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Council of State blocks loophole in illegal homes law

The Council of State, Greece?s highest administrative court, has suspended a regulation that allowed owners of illegally-built homes to legalize their properties by submitting personal rather than official documents.

The process was suspended after residents of Maroussi in northern Athens submitted a complaint. Checks revealed that in some cases applicants were submitting doctored photos, showing structures that did not exist on their land, in the hope that this would give them the right to build them in the future.

The Council of State said that only official aerial photographs and documents from public bodies would be accepted from homeowners who want to protect buildings that were built without permits or which exceeded the terms of their construction license.